Redditor puddlespuddled is a stay-at-home-mother with a toddler who decided to have dinner from a local burger joint delivered directly from the restaurant to her.
Unfortunately, the reception she got from the delivery person was not what she was expecting.
After contacting the restaurant’s manager, she visited the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) and asked:
“AITA for ordering delivery food when I only live a few blocks away from the restaurant?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“There’s a local burger joint that my family and I love. It’s about 10 blocks away from our house and they do both delivery and pick up.”
“I’m a ft student and SAHM to a toddler (1.5) while my husband works ft. I had a big exam and a couple of lab practicals due today and was too tired to cook dinner so I decided to order a couple burgers and fries from the local joint.”
“It was already dark out, really cold, and I didn’t feel like trying to wrangle my kid into their snow suit or the stroller to walk over there as we don’t have a car, so I ordered delivery on their website for an additional fee.”
“(This wasn’t a delivery service like Door Dash or Uber Eats, the restaurant uses its own online platform and hires its own drivers to delivery food). I paid online and left a 20% tip.”
“About 30 minutes later I got a notification the delivery driver was at my building so I went downstairs to pick my food up. When I got to the door the delivery person was very rude and told me that next time I should get off my a** and pick up my own damn food and that she doesn’t get paid enough to deliver food less than a mile.”
“I just grabbed my food and didn’t say a word to her and headed back toward the elevator. I heard a pound on the (locked) door as I walked away and turned around to see she’d hit the door with some snow and was flipping me off.”
“I went upstairs kind of frazzled and ended up calling the restaurant to let them know what happened and to please reimburse me for my tip.”
“The manager I talked to was horrified and apologized and ended up returning my tip. He also offered a 20% off coupon for a future visit. We love this burger shop so this poor experience isn’t going to stop us from eating their food, I just am not going to get delivery from them again.”
“AITA for ordering delivery from a restaurant a few blocks away? Is this some kind of unwritten rule of delivery that I didn’t know about?”
Strangers online were asked to declare one of the following:
- NTA – Not the A**hole
- YTA – You’re the A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everybody Sucks Here
Most Redditors sided with the OP as not the a**hole here.
“NTA. What the hell is the delivery person’s problem? Who cares how close you are. Ten blocks, next door… shouldn’t matter. There’s a bazillion different reasons why someone might need delivery no matter the distance and she has no business to comment on it.” – coffin_rave
“NTA she must not be too bright, because that was a very quick delivery with minimal time/gas and she got a decent tip. I’m glad you spoke with the manager, that kind of attitude was totally uncalled for.” – black_cat_2446
“She WOULD have gotten a decent tip you mean, if she hadn’t been stupid enough to open her mouth and give horrible service. Honestly, if a waitress ever talked like that to a customer while they were dining in and in front of other staff they would be fired immediately.”
“As it stands, she might now anyway, and rightfully so. She was probably just banking on him being too passive to bother calling the restaurant and complaining. Classic case of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. NTA” – Old-Gate4237
“NTA. It seems like an ideal delivery for a quick buck for the driver. It sounds like they should not be delivering food to anyone with that attitude.” – AttemptedAdult
“WHAT. That is crazy! You are absolutely NTA, but that delivery driver sure is!! You used their own delivery service, you tipped very nicely, and that’s all your obligated to do.”
“In any case, the delivery person doesn’t even make sense. She’s getting a nice tip for doing 3 minutes of work, that should be a win win for everyone!” – MindDeep2823
“NTA like thats a super easy and close delivery and if anything it being shorter makes it more lucrative on a tip-time ratio.” – Nalpona_Freesun
“You are NTA. Getting that out of the way first.”
“If this person worked directly for the restaurant (and not Uber Eats, etc) I feel rather confident to say that after your call that they will not be employed there any more.”
“There’s one person that determines whether your delivery is worth it to them or not – the business owner that runs the restaurant.”
“Someone decided to take out their aggression, anger, frustration, or whatever it is on you. Whether they’re unhappy with their life, their job, or got some terrible soul crushing news, what they did (and said) to you is all forms of wrong. I’d be mortified if I got wind of one of my staff doing anything remotely like they did to you.”
“You ordered food – requested delivery and the order was accepted. TA in this story is the delivery driver.”
“Good luck with your studies!” – TUFKAT
“Don’t worry. NTA… Plus, She doesn’t know your history or why you didn’t come pick up the food yourself and assuming its cause you were ‘lazy’ is absolutely horrible. I have a friend who has a child that is extremely special needs. When her daughter was 4, they were hit by a drunk driver and it crippled her daughter.”
“In the months that followed, after they were able to go home, my friend ordered a LOT of take out. She was a single mom, and her daughter required a LOT of equipment and assistance, and she had no car yet since it hadn’t been replaced after the accident yet… A lot of us stepped up to help her out getting groceries and cooking and helping, of course. But we couldn’t all be there all the time, so of course, a lot of take out.”
“If something similar happened to her at the time, it would have crushed her. She was already trying to heal from her own injuries while also dealing with watching her daughter struggle, etc etc.”
“This driver is LUCKY she didn’t deliver to someone in a situation like that. You are NTA at ALL. And I really hope she was fired over that, because she 100% deserved to be.” – KknhgnhInepa0cnB11
Overall, many Redditors thought the delivery person was the a**hole in the situation who lost out on an easy tip.